


Spirits in the Night

by ThefirstRanger



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AU, Ba Sing Se, F/M, Minor death of old age at the end, Vigilante Katara and Zuko au, Zutara
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23665609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThefirstRanger/pseuds/ThefirstRanger
Summary: Katara hears about the Blue Spirit long before she meets him in Ba Sing Se. She can't stop herself from joining him at night and tales start to spread of another spirit.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 164





	Spirits in the Night

The first time Katara hears about the Blue Spirit is when Aang comes back from the herbalist, strangely subdued, and carrying the frog. He tells Sokka and Katara that he was rescued from Zhao by a mysterious Blue Spirit. Katara thinks back to the old stories her grandmother used to tell about spirits and she dimly recalls a story about a blue being haunting the Fire Nation. She could get behind that and so Katara doesn't question Aang any more even when it's clear there's something more he's not telling them. She keeps her ears open for more about this spirit.   
~  
The second time Katara hears about the Blue Spirit is in the fervent whispers from each village they go to. The Blue Spirit has been making his way through villages just the Gaang has been doing. People whisper of the Avatar’s and how the spirits have been making a comeback as well. They whisper about food being stolen, about hurried glimpses of a blue face grinning in the dark. And most importantly, they talk about hope returning to their lands.

While Katara doesn't dare ask the villagers about the rumors, she listens carefully. She's not convinced the Blue Spirit is a true spirit any more than she is, spirits don't need to eat food after all, and it gives her hope. Aang is inspiring people to rebel and the Blue Spirit is being painted as a pain to the fire nation.   
~  
The third time is in Ba Sing Se and again Katara pays attention to the whispers of the people. The spirit makes the already on edge people even more paranoid and it’s like the Blue Spirit has lit the whole city on fire. The Dai Li officially has said that there is no spirit but the increased activity and criminals being tied up on poles begs to differ. The whispers are more fearful, less hopeful, but any change is a start.

It’s in Ba Sing Se that Katara finally sees him for herself. The night was cool and she was walking the silent streets of Ba Sing Se alone, taking care to avoid the Dai Li agents. She’s a friend of the Avatar, but she’s not counting on that to save her if an agent gets it in his head to arrest her. The Dai Li are not to be trusted. 

Katara sees a figure on a rooftop from the corner of her eye and when she turns, it flips down to the ground, swords glinting in the moonlight. She knows that he is no man because no man could burn with such cool intensity. No man could have made her feel the way she feels so it must be a spirit and yet Katara can’t help but feel that there’s someone underneath the mask. He crouches like a gargoyle even when on the ground and while his face is grotesque, Katara can’t look away. He can’t seem to look away either.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” His voice is rough like he doesn’t use it often and it sends a shiver down Katara’s spine. “The streets aren’t safe.”

Who is he to tell her what to do? “I thought there is no war in Ba Sing Se.”

The spirit shifts lightly on his feet. “You and I both know that’s a lie.”

“Why are you out here then?” It’s a challenge, one that the spirit accepts. It’s not possible, but Katara swears that the distorted grin got even wider. 

“Don’t you know? I’m a spirit; I’m their worst nightmare.” 

He’s referring to the Dai Li, but Katara somehow gets the feeling he’s referring to the fire nation. It excites her. 

“What if I’m their worst nightmare as well?”

His laugh is grating, but she can feel his eyes appraising her. 

“I’d believe it.” and he disappears into the dark night.

The meeting sparks something in Katara and she thinks back to old stories her grandmother told her. She can’t recall any specific spirit names right now, that will come later, but Katara doesn’t need a name for what she’s going to do.

From that night on, another spirit races over the rooftops with the Blue Spirit. The deeper meaning of the new spirit clad in gauzy water tribe clothes is perhaps lost on a kingdom of isolated earthbenders, but the people know power when they see it and spirits always bring awe alongside fear. The two spirits are bonded in anger and the need to do something.

If Sokka notices her tiredness each morning or if Aang notices flecks of red pigment on her cheeks, neither of them say anything. Katara is sure Toph knows she’s sneaking out (how could she not?) but Toph says nothing. It’s almost like Toph is approving of her actions. Ba Sing Se has done wonders for their friendship, thinks Katara mildly.

Conversation is light as they search the streets for secrets and catch criminals and it’s almost always Katara initiating conversation.

“Your tales spread far.” And they almost match up with their path the Gaang took. “What are you hunting?”

She wants to ask who are you hunting, but she feels like she knows that answer. 

The spirit looks at her and says nothing. The silence is comfortable.  
~  
The nights in Ba Sing Se blur together and she grows entirely too comfortable with the Blue Spirit considering he’s practically a stranger. And yet it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise when one night his mask falls off and she sees the flash of a telltale scar on his face. He pretends not to know that she saw it and she pretends not to have seen the scar. Neither of them wants to break this tentative peace they made forged. Katara feels like she always kind of knew deep down who the spirit was. Aang certainly did, she realizes. That was why he didn’t tell them; Katara certainly would have hated the spirit months ago if she knew it was Zuko under the mask. Now, he’s still on the wrong side, but she gets him.

“I’m trying to find the bison.” He confesses one night. Find the Avatar is the unspoken end to the sentence. Katara is almost disappointed in him. He knows who she is and yet he hadn’t tried anything to use her to get Aang. Whatever Zuko thought of himself, he had some honor. 

“And what will you do with Appa when you find him?” She places emphasis on Appa’s name and dreads Zuko’s answer. 

The mask turns to her. “I don’t know,” he answers truthfully.  
Soon after that night, the Gaang leaves Ba Sing Se and she banishes the thought of the Blue Spirit from her head. The idea of dressing up as a spirit doesn’t however and when they get to Jang Hui, the pollution cements it in Katara’s mind. She’ll do what it takes.

People whisper of the Painted Lady's return and how the spirits have been making a comeback. They whisper about hurried glimpses of a blue face grinning in the dark and how the spirits are returning to fight against the fire nation. And most importantly, they talk about hope returning to their lands. When Sokka asks why Katara is pretending to be the Painted Lady, she tells him she was inspired by the stories, but she thinks she was inspired by the Blue Spirit more.

The Blue Spirit only sees her as the Painted Lady once after Ba Sing Se, but once is enough. They come together and they know they have to return back to being Zuko and Katara, but that is in the morning. The spirits own the night.  
~  
It’s been many years since Katara has seen the Blue Spirit; Firelord Zuko is too powerful a symbol to disappear into the mask and while he swears he dropped the mask into the lake in Ba Sing Se, Katara knows her husband better. Firelord Zuko is still the same teenage boy at heart and he longs for anonymity to help people sometimes. The mask is hidden but accessible, Katara knows that much. She knows because the garb of the Painted Lady is hidden in a trunk beneath her bed. 

Zuko brings out the mask as a gift to their youngest son when he declares he wants to travel the world. Katara knows what traveling the world really means; it’s what she did after all. Lee is the third son and the youngest of five; he’ll never take the throne like his father, but he can follow in both parent’s footsteps. The Blue Spirit will appear and disappear again, collecting tales and other spirits around him. Katara’s never been prouder.

The last time she sees the Blue Spirit is when she is old, too old. One moment she’s surrounded by friends and family, the next she’s outside with glowing plants all around her. Katara immediately knows she’s in the spirit world and she feels a shadow come up behind her. She turns and a grinning, grotesque face fills her vision. Something shifts and Katara instantly knows she’s in her old Painted Lady garb. She sees the swords at Zuko’s side and it’s like no time has passed at all since they were teens.

Zuko takes her hand and the Blue Spirit takes the Painted Lady to meet the previous Avatar again.

**Author's Note:**

> Basically a Zutara au where the Blue Spirit appears in Ba Sing Se and Katara is inspired to join him and eventually become the Painted Lady. It's been a while since I saw the series so hopefully the timeline works out.


End file.
